Kamikaze Girl
by stuffismeee
Summary: After the death of her grandfather, Sakura Mikan finds herself in a racing gang and living on the streets of Tokyo. But what happens when a certain teacher finds her in a dark alleyway?
1. Late

The vast iron gates of Alice Academy slid open, and Narumi-sensei stepped out of the school's boundaries.

"Ahh… I'm late, I'm late…" he continually murmured to himself. He had an important meeting with one of the higher-ups at a secluded location somewhere in Tokyo. Running past bars and run down buildings in a more dangerous part of Tokyo, (A/N: I'm not sure such a place exists, seeing as I've been there) he noticed a dark alley way that might serve as a shortcut for him.

Ha ran down the alley hastily, his brief case swinging from on hand, when all of a sudden he heard the sound of a bat slamming against the brick wall. About ten young women in kamikaze outfits jumped down from dumpsters and fire escapes.

"Watch carefully Sakura-san, this is what we do to those who barge into our territory," said one particularly fierce-looking kamikaze girl who seemed to be their leader. "What'cha go there, pretty boy?" she snatched his brief case and tossed it to the girl she called Sakura-san.

All of them, except the one holding his brief case, circled around him and started closing in on him, gripping their metal poles and bats menacingly.

"Oh my," said Narumi-sensei calmly to the leader, "you have such pretty eyes."

The leader stopped moving and seemed to be in a trance.

"In fact, you all have wonderful eyes. Now what would a bunch a beautiful girls such as yourself be wanting with that old briefcase of mine? Hmm?"

All of the kamikaze girls circling then stopped as well.

"What are you guys doing? Get him!" Sakura said.

Narumi-sensei blew a kiss to all the girls surrounding him and they all fell to the ground in a dead faint.

Sakura's eyes widened in surprise. Who was this guy?

Narumi-sensei now advanced on the girl holding his brief case. "Now, why don't you give that back?"

"N-n-no, g-get away from me! PERVERT! HENTAI!"

Narumi-sensei's eyes widened in surprise. Why wasn't this girl affected?

"Stop right there. What's your name?" said Narumi.

"None of your business! Get away!" the girl named Sakura started running away at top speed.

"Matte!" said Narumi as he ran after her. Narumi didn't know how long he kept running after her but after a while he started to get tired. Sakura turned into another alleyway, and Narumi hastily followed. A tall fence divided the alley way in half. Sakura was stuck unless she climbed—so she did.

"M-matte! Come down! I just want to talk to you!" shouted Narumi as he gasped for air.

"No way!" Sakura shouted down at him "You're probably a pervert and a child molester! Get away from me!"

Narumi was running out of ideas. His pheromones wouldn't work on her and he was tired of running. Then he suddenly remembered the beans he stole from the greenhouse at Alice Academy. He placed one on his hand and watched it grow to a magnificent height. He then whipped it so that it coiled around her foot. Sakura screamed as she was tugged down to the ground. Her head hit the asphalt and she knew no more.


	2. Alice Academy

Sakura Mikan dreamt of a blond man chasing after her. He was gaining more and more ground, but she just kept running. Something told her this guy wasn't _normal_. She had to get away. Her dream seemed to be an endless display of chases and alley ways, until suddenly—

Mikan awoke with a gasp. The first thing she saw was a bright light which turned out to be a diamond chandelier. _Oh…_ thought Mikan, _it's just the chandelier…_

_WHAT??? Where am I?_

Then Mikan remembered. _So the chase wasn't s dream after all, but that still doesn't explain where I am._

She sat up rubbing the spot where her head hit the ground. Looking around she saw expensive looking furniture and enormous windows. Remembering the blond man she suddenly felt afraid for her life. _Where has that pervert taken me?_

She got up from the plush sofa she was lying down on to see a young girl, probably about seven or eight years old, fidgeting on a sofa nearby.

"Hey kid where are we?" asked Mikan. The young turned wide eyed and opened and closed her mouth several times not saying anything. _Is there something on my face? Oh right, _thought Mikan looking down at her kamikaze jacket, _I'm in my 'scare normal people' suit._

Mikan just shrugged checked the door. It was locked. She started banging on the door hoping someone would respond. She looked out the window but it was too high up to jump. She sighed. _This has been a really weird and long day. Perhaps it's better to wait and see what happens…_

Mikan walked back to the sofa and lay down on it again, playing with the end of a lock of hair which was dyed magenta. The little girl sitting nearby was still staring at her, but Mikan just ignored her.

A few minutes of awkward silence had passed when a crash was heard coming from the behind Mikan's sofa.

Mikan glanced around to see a boy her age, who had appeared to have flown in on a giant eagle (which puzzled Mikan to no end), charge towards the little girl.

"Answer me in 5 seconds or I'll burn your hair off," he said as he grabbed her braid and pulled it back "Where is Naru?" The frightened girl just started to cry. "I'll ask you one more time—"

The boy was cut off, however, when Mikan's fist collided with his face.

"DON'T GO AROUND BULLYING LITTLE GIRLS! PICK ON SOMEONE YOUR OWN SIZE!" Mikan yelled in fury as she tried to calm down the little girl. The boy was on the ground rubbing his face. He glared at Mikan.

Immediately he sprang up and grabbed Mikan's collar. "You picked the wrong person to mess with."

"The only person I'm messing with is a coward," seethed Mikan. She hated guys like him with a passion. At the word "coward" the boy seemed to snap. He then let go of Mikan and started to shoot fire at Mikan and the little girl. Mikan grabbed the little girl and started dodging the attacks.

_What??? How???_

The boy was panting after Mikan dodged most of the fireballs, leaving her only slightly singed; living on the streets and being in a racing gang for three years taught her the importance of dodging things.

The boy was now engulfed in fury, and seemed to be loading all of his fire power into one big attack. Mikan pushed the little girl behind her. She closed her eyes on anticipation for the attack, but instead of a sea of flames, they were all engulfed in a blinding, white light.

Mikan and the little girl were pushed to one side of the room while the boy hit the wall and fell to the ground unconscious. Mikan looked to the little girl that was coughing beside her.

"Are you okay?" asked Mikan. The little girl nodded.

"Mikan! Are you alright?" said the blond man who kidnapped Mikan as he rushed into the room.

"Yeah, I—Hey, how do you know my first name?"

"Well… uh… the Academy has its ways. I'm Narumi-sensei by the way."

"Sakura Mikan. Pleased to meet you," said Mikan in mock pleasantry. "Now can you be so kind as to tell me why you kidnapped me and where I am. And who's the Academy?"

"Well, I'll get to your first question in a second. You see, the academy isn't a 'who', it's a place. In fact, it's where you are right now. This is Alice Academy. You may have heard that it's a secretive school for geniuses. While we may have some geniuses attending that's not really what this school is about—"

"Wait—what? This is just confusing me more. What does this have to do with me?"

"Hold on, I'm getting to that. This school is not really for geniuses, but for people with special abilities."

"Special abilities?"

"Yes, like Natsume's ability to manipulate and cast fire."

"Natsume?" asked Mikan.

"Yes. That boy that just attacked you is Hyuuga Natsume. He is one of our most valuable and most dangerous students."

"So," piped up the little girl for the first time, "The reason I can manipulate water is because I have a special ability?"

"Yes and that is why you are here," said Narumi-sensei.

"And is it customary for the Academy to kidnap prospective students?"

"Well… it's not unheard of," Narumi-sensei said guiltily

"There is no way this is possible. Am I dreaming? This is crazy! I'm out of here." Mikan began to run to the now open door.

"Chotto Matte! Mikan-chan!" shouted Narumi-sensei. He sprinted to the door and shut it and stood in front of it.

"How am I supposed to know you aren't tricking me? That this isn't some sort of joke?"

"I'm telling the truth. I swear! Besides, you saw firsthand how very real these powers are," said Narumi-sensei referring to Natsume.

"That still doesn't explain what _I'm_ doing here."

"You are here because you are now officially part of Alice Academy. You have an Alice. That's the general term used for special abilities here by the way."

"Thanks but no thanks. I'm afraid I have no interest whatsoever in going here."

"Wait! Don't you at least want to know what your Alice is?"

"Nope. Besides, I think you've made a mistake. I haven't been able to do any thing special my whole life."

"That's not true. You have a very rare and special Alice. You showed it to us a few moments ago."

"Yeah, and what's that?"

"You stopped Natsume's fire, and you were unaffected by my pheromones."

"Phero-what?"

"Pheromones. I have the ability to make people infatuated with me and do what I say. Usually people can't escape my charms, but you seemed unfazed. It occurred to me that you had the Alice of Nullification."

"Nullification? That's it? What a useless power!"

"Ah you say that now, but in Alice Academy you may find it very useful."

"Well I guess I'll never know whether it's useful or not because I still have no interest in entering. Now if you'll just show me to the exit…"

"Mikan..." said Narumi-sensei softly, "I'm afraid that's not how it works. You have no choice but to attend this school."

"No choice? No choice? What do you mean I have no choice?"

"I'm sorry Mikan, but those are the rules. It's too dangerous to let you live in the outside world."

Mikan became very quiet and slid down to the ground.

"Mikan?" said Narumi-sensei.

"I suppose I really have no choice, huh?"

"I'm afraid so… gome ne… Mikan-chan."

Mikan's thoughts went back to when her grandfather was still alive. _Wasn't this what he always wanted? _Thought Mikan. She remembered him showing her the gates of the most prestigious high school in Tokyo, and saying "One day Mikan-chan, you will go here, when I get better." _But Jii-chan never got better, did he? But this is exactly the kind of place he would want me to go,_ thought Mikan. She had been planning to quit school after graduating Jr. High and work since she had no money for high school, but now seemed like the perfect opportunity to fulfill her grandfather's wish. She thought back to Reiko and the rest of the gang. She didn't want to leave Reiko, but it looked as though she didn't have a choice.

"I still don't want to go," spoke Mikan finally. "But I guess I have no choice. Oh well, it looks like my racing days are over."

"Racing days?"

"Yeah, well, don't get me wrong, I'm not involved in anything _highly_ illegal. But I am—sorry, was—in a racing gang."

"Not in anything _highly _illegal, eh? Well it doesn't matter now. Let me show you to your class. You are fourteen correct?"

"Yeah, how did—"

"The Academy has its ways. I'll show you both to your classes. Follow me," said Narumi-sensei as he picked up Natsume and threw him over his shoulder. Mikan and the little girl hurried after him.

"What's your name?" said Mikan, turning to the little girl.

"Uh—um Hatsumoto Aya," she said quietly.

"How old are you Aya?"

"N-nine."

"Wow, you sure are small for your age, but don't worry, I'm sure you'll grow."

Aya said nothing, she just looked at the ground, her bangs hanging over her eyes.

"Well, this is your stop, Mikan. Aya, we'll have to take the bus over to the Elementary branch."

"Chotto Matte! Don't I get a uniform or something?"

"Until we get one in your size I suppose nothing can be done. You should be fine in what you're wearing for today."

"Chotto! Are you sure you want me to go in wearing this?" she said while pointing to her Kamikaze jacket.

"You'll be fine, wow look at the time! I've really got to run, Mikan. In you go!" He opened the door and pushed Mikan in from behind. She stumbled and fell face-down on the classroom floor. She could feel every pair of eyes on her.

"Here's the new student Misaki! Gotta run, Mikan. Ja ne!"

"Chotto! NARUMI-SENSEI!!!"

A/N: just a little note on where some of my ideas for this fic come from. The character Mikan is heavily based on Ichigo (a.k.a. ichiko) from the movie Kamikaze Girls. When I made this fic I also had no plans on copying the title of the movie, but it just seemed to fit since Mikan is a "Kamikaze Girl" in this fic. There is also no need to watch Kamikaze Girls to understand this fanfic. However it is a good movie so I recommend you see it anyway )


	3. Purple Eyes

_Boy is it hot in here,_ thought Mikan even though it was only midway through spring. She wanted to disappear into the ground badly, but she knew her Alice wouldn't help her in that department. She pushed herself up off the floor, not daring to look at the class.

"Well," said Misaki-sensei, clearing his throat, "Why don't you introduce yourself to the class."

Sweat was running down her face and pooling above her upper lip, nearly smudging her dark purple lipstick. She could only pray that her mascara was in tact. Mikan tried to comprehend what the teacher was saying but he seemed to be speaking a completely different language.

Then she remembered what Reiko had told her:

"_There is nothing wrong with being afraid, Mikan, but when you're in a pit full of snakes don't let your fear show. Snakes can smell fear. Always remember that."_

Feeling a bit more courage she looked up. _That's right. They're just a pit full of snakes. They can smell fear. _

"My name is Sakura Mikan, pleased to meet you."

The rest of the class just gaped at her. One girl with purple eyes was especially surprised. Come to think of it Mikan had seen her somewhere. But there was no way that that girl could be the girl Mikan thought she was. _That's just impossible,_ thought Mikan, _she can't be here of all places._

"Now then, why don't you take the empty seat in the back by the window? You can just watch for this lesson." Misaki-sensei went back to teaching but no one was paying attention. I knew I should have changed, thought Mikan, but then she changed her mind remembering Reiko.

"_In this world, Mikan, people scorn us for being different. Once you're too afraid to be who you are, they've won."_

_That's right, _thought Mikan; _I'm a Kamikaze Girl no matter how you look at it. Reiko would be disappointed if she knew I was ashamed. Reiko… I wonder what you're doing._ She looked out the window longingly. Being part of a racing gang wasn't all that fun. To be honest some of the girls scared her, but when she jumped on her moped and sped down the street, she was able to forget about her pain. She got a thrill out of not know whether she would crash or not. Besides if Reiko hadn't found her she didn't know how she would have survived on the streets. _Onee-chan how is the gang? I bet Momoko and Rheina are glad I'm gone. Today was the big race, but I'm sorry; I missing it. _

Mikan sighed. Today had been far too tiring for her. She sensed someone looking at her. It was the blond guy who sat two seats away from her. "Nani? What do you want?"

The boy immediately looked way. _Honestly,_ thought Mikan,_ I know I look weird but don't these people have any manners?_

"That's all for today. See you all tomorrow." And with that Misaki sensei left the room, leaving Mikan in a pit full of snakes without a snake handler.

"Don't think you can scare us all," said a curly haired girl suddenly. "You may think you're tough, but you're no match against us."

"I wasn't aware that I was scaring anyone. In fact you're scaring me a bit, Permy."

"P-PERMY???"

"Yeah, I have a knack for making knick names. Like it? I think it suits you well."

"S-Shut up. I'll get you for this. C'mon girls, I don't want to waste anymore of my free time on this street rat when I should be looking for Natsume."

Mikan just shrugged. "I'd like to see you try, Permy."

Permy just turned around with a "humph!" and walked out of the room with her posse tailing behind her.

"Anyone else have a problem with me?" Mikan looked around.

"What makes you think you're so big?" piped up a boy with purple hair. His face curled into a mischievous smile and he started to stare at Mikan intensely.

"Not now. Lets go see what's up with Natsume, he should be back by now if his plan didn't work," said the blond haired boy sitting two seats away. The majority of the class left giving Mikan angry and scared looks.

There were only two students left. The purple eyed girl and a timid boy with glasses. "Welcome to Alice Academy, Sakura-san," said the boy shyly, but respectfully all the same, "My name is Tobita Yuu, but everyone calls me Iinchou." Mikan was glad at least one person in the class had manners.

"Call me Mikan," Mikan said shortly, "What's with the rest of the class? It's like they've never seen a street thug before."

"Well, some of them haven't seen the outside world since they were five."

"Five? But I'm sure some of them must have—"

"Tobita, you're needed at the student council meeting," said a boy who poked his head into the classroom.

"Yes, I'll be there in a second! Bye Mikan! It was nice meeting you," said Tobita.

Mikan raised a hand in the air as a response and put her feet up on the desk in front of her. She wasn't sure where she was supposed to go so she decided to just wait there. Then she remembered the purple-eyed girl, who looked painfully like someone she once knew. The girl was staring at her intensely but little emotion played across her face.

"Why don't you take a picture? It'll last longer," Mikan said irritably. The girl said nothing. "Is there something that you want? You know I really hate it when people st—"

"Mikan?" said the girl.

"Yes, as I've told everyone, that is my name," Mikan snapped.

"Mi…kan" said the girl dazedly.

"Look you're really starting to freak me out, so—"

"It's me, Hotaru."

Mikan's eyes went wide.

"H-Hotaru?"


	4. Mikan's Story

Mikan's head was spinning by now. This had to have been the weirdest day of her life. First a pretty boy makes her entire gang faint, then a boy produced fire from his fists, then she found out that she actually has special powers, and now her best friend who she hadn't seen since she was nine was standing right before and not only that but in the same class as her.

"H—Hotaru? Is that really you? What… How?"

Hotaru didn't open her mouth but her large purple eyes said everything. Her face was like a stone but her eyes shone brightly with what looked like tears that would never make it onto her cheeks. Mikan stepped towards Hotaru, her mouth slightly open in awe.

"Hotaru!" Mikan's eyes filled with more palpable tears, but when Mikan reached out to hug her, for once Hotaru didn't swat her away with a cold 'stop crying, Baka.'

And they both stood there in the middle of the empty classroom hugging until Hotaru broke the silence

"How are you here, Mikan?"

"Me? What about you?" asked Mikan.

"This is where I've been for the past few years. They recruited me here. But to be here you can't just be normal. You—this is going to sound idiotic, but to be here you have to have superhuman powers."

"I know."

"You kn—you have an Alice?"

"Yes. But it isn't anything flashy. I have the Alice of nullification. What are you here for?" asked Mikan.

"Mikan, remember when I used to make all those gadgets. Like turtle mail?"

"Oh yes. It was a joy getting that the minute before you were leaving," Mikan said somewhat coldly. Hotaru's eyes widened slightly. She had never heard Mikan be sarcastic before, or speak so harshly.

"I'm sorry. I was being selfish; I just didn't want to see you sad." Now it was Mikan's turn to gape; Hotaru had never apologized to her before. "Well, anyway, I have the Alice of Invention."

"What kinds of Alices can there be?" Mikan asked.

"That's tough to say, it could be anything, like clairvoyance or flying."

"Flying?"

"Yes. Some can even read minds or possess things."

"Wow, this is a really strange school."

"I see you still have the habit of pointing out the obvious."

"Eh, do i? But you've changed a lot. You were never this warm and open towards me. You were always cold and uninterested."

"Baka. It could be the fact that I haven't seen you in 5 years and then suddenly we go to the same school. I see you're still an idiot."

"There's the Hotaru I know! But what you said is true. It's really been a long time. I mean we were nine years old when you parted and by some strange miracle here I am in front of you."

"By the way, how are you here? I mean how were you discovered?

"Discovered? What do you mean?"

"I mean how did they find out you had an Alice? They found out about me because of the inventions I sold to people in the neighborhood."

"Oh! It was teacher from this school called Narumi-sensei that found out about me, actually. See we tried to steal his briefcase—"

"You were doing what!?"

"I'm not done yet! See we were trying to steal his briefcase or at least scare him away because he had entered our alley—"

"_Your _alley?"

"Well it's not really our alley it's just where we meet."

"What? Are you in a gang or something?"

"Well sort of…"

"Mikan… you're serious?"

"What you couldn't tell by looking at me?" Mikan gestured towards her long jacket with her gang's manifesto written on it, her dark makeup, and her dyed hairstyle. All of a sudden a deer hoof came out nowhere and banged her on the head.

"Baka. Just when I thought you had finally grown some brains, too. Honestly, why would you join a gang. Why were you in Tokyo anyway? This did take place in Tokyo right."

"Oh that's right," Mikan said quietly, "You don't know about Jii-chan."

"What about your grandfather?"

"Just a few months after you left, Jii-chan became very sick. Then when I was ten, a little under a year after you left, Jii-chan's doctor insisted that we move to Tokyo so that Jii-chan could be under the care of a better equipped hospital. At first he seemed to be making progress, but then, after a year of living in Tokyo, he—he…" tears spilled out of Mikan's eyes.

"Mikan…" Hotaru couldn't find the word to comfort Mikan.

"After his funeral, I was left with a little bit of money from his will and the apartment. I tried to find a job but because I was only eleven everywhere I asked refused me. A few months later the rent became too heavy for me to pay and all the money from the will was soon gone. I was homeless, and had only five hundred yen with me. I was staying behind a dumpster in an alleyway when Reiko found me.

"By that time I couldn't cry anymore, and I just sat there, listless. Reiko must've been about sixteen or seventeen then. She came straight up to me and slapped me on the face. I looked up and she said, smiling, 'Just checking to see if you're alive. Young people shouldn't have such expressionless faces.' After that I burst into tears. Reiko just pulled me onto her back and said, 'there, that's better.'

"She took me her apartment and fed me and let me use her shower. She asked me if I had run away from home, and I said no. She said the restaurant she works at needs someone to clean dishes and that the owner doesn't care how old the person is as long as it's done. She said that I could stay as long as I worked there and pitched in with the rent. She also said I had to go to school. She said 'If I had to suffer through 3 years of Jr. High then so do you'

"Then she told me about the Bōsōzoku gang. It's not like the yakuza or anything (although some do end up in the yakuza), all we did was race motorbikes, or at least that's the only part of the gang she would let me witness. I know there were some gang fights and uglier parts like that, but Reiko rarely let me participate in those parts. She really cared for me, like I was her little sister or something. She didn't even let me ride a motorbike alone until I was 13. Before that I always rode with her. This week I was supposed to have my first race."

"So you were saying Narumi-sensei found you?"

"Yeah, so he was walking down the alley we usually meet, and so the gang started circling around him. Then Mizuki—she's the leader of the gang—takes his briefcase and hands it to me. But then he did something weird to them. I think he called it using pheromones. Everyone around him fainted, but I was unaffected. Then he started to run after me but I thought he was a child molester or something so I ran, and he ran after me. Soon I had run into a gated alleyway. I tried to climb over the fence, but Narumi whipped something at my leg and pulled me down. Then I backed out and when I woke up I was here."

Then Mikan told Hotaru what happened with Natsume.

"A giant white light, you say? Well I have to say Mikan, you sure have a way of finding trouble. But I guess it's okay since you're the first Alice Academy student to stand up to Natsume and not be burned to a crisp."

"Is he really that powerful?"

"Yes. And he's the most dangerous. Anyway, even though you've overpowered him once already, I wouldn't attempt to provoke him again."

"Hey, hey, Hotaru-chan, don't tell me you're worried about me?"

"Pft. Who could worry about a baka like you? You'll probably cause me more trouble this year and I won't get honor student again. Baka, you couldn't even stay in one place."

"Hotaru, w-"

"Forget it." Hotaru had returned to her icy cold self.

"Mikan-chan!" Hearts flew into the room and Mikan spotted Narumi sticking his head into the room.

"Narumi…" Mikan said glaring daggers at him, remembering how he left her.

"I've come to show you around. Ah! Hotaru! Just the person I wanted to see. Could you

Please share a room with Mikan until she gets a ranking?"

"Hai." Hotaru went to put her books into her backpack, avoiding eye contact with Mikan.

"Come with me, we have to pick up your uniform," said Narumi.

"Okay," said Mikan distractedly; she was staring at Hotaru, trying to figure out what she was thinking.

She followed Narumi down the huge corridor outside the classroom, taking in the polished wooden floors and high windows. She was torn between feeling overwhelmed or impressed.

"Ah! Jinno-sensei!" said Narumi suddenly. "Did you get my memo?"

"Yes," he said curtly. "Is this the new student?"

"Yes. This is Sakura Mikan."

Jinno eyed her disdainfully, taking in her deep purple jacket and dyed hair.

"Well, you certainly have a knack for picking out students Narumi."

"I'm just taking her to pick up her uniform."

"I see. Well, then I suppose I'll see you at the teacher's meeting." Jinno walked away in the opposite direction.

"Who was that?" Mikan asked

"That was Jinno-sensei. He'll be your English teacher. Here we are," he said coming to a store room. Inside were about ten racks full of uniforms. "Pick out as many as you want. Make sure you get something for winter as well."

"Umm… Narumi?" Mikan said as they were walking towards the dormitories.

"Yes?"

"About that boy, from before…"

"Oh, you mean Hyuuga Natsume. What about him?"

"Is he alright?"

"Hmm he's in the hospital building right now but he should be awake by tomorrow."

"Did I really hurt him that much?"

"Oh no, he's just knocked out. Once he's awake he should be alright."

"Oh… good," said Mikan. _Hyuuga Natsume, eh?_

When Mikan got to Hotaru's room, Hotaru was at her desk doing her homework.

"Hey, Hotaru?"

Hotaru said nothing.

"I-I'm sorry." said Mikan.

"For what?"

"For not coming to find you."

"I'm sorry too."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She rode her motor bike down the empty streets, her eyes set furiously ahead. She had been riding for hours. Her eyes searched every corner of the city but she could find nothing. She knew it was useless to try, but her mind was set on one thing: kill that blond man.

A/N: Just so you all know, I'm about as Japanese as Dick Cheney, and I only know a few words in Japanese (which i learned from watching the anime for Gakuen Alice), so if i make any mistakes please feel free to insult my patented american ignorance. Anyway I know very little on the subject of japanese biker gangs, and what i know of them is from Kamikaze girls and wikipedia. Look up Bōsōzoku in wikipedia and that should give you some idea.


	5. Too Hot

Somewhere in the heart of Tokyo is a small run down café with outside seating that overlooks probably the most diverse street in the city, for not only do prominent business men hurry down this street, but drug dealers and Bōsōzoku gang members as well. Little boys often kicked soccer balls in the path of rushed pedestrians causing them to turn around and screech frantically while the children ran away, bowling over old ladies and peddlers selling cheap novelty hats.

The café itself was dilapidated. The roof was crumbling and dark stains covered the peeling paint of its walls. Under the café's dusty awning were cheap plastic tables and chairs. On any given day this café was extremely unremarkable, but on one particular day this very ordinary café held an aura of extraordinary anger and hatred. On that morning of that day the café was nearly empty save for a fiercely beautiful woman in her early twenties clutching onto the picture of a handsome blonde man. Next to her was the only other patron in the café, a balding rat-faced man with a runny nose and a beaten up camera.

"I don't know how you got this picture, and I'm not sure I want to know, but thanks," said the woman.

"Don't misunderstand, now! This is no charity of mine. I-I-I'm not g-g-giving you that picture… I…" the rat face man said in a panicky voice.

"Calm down. I'll give you your payment," said the woman. She handed him a magazine with a giant tarantula on the cover, "weirdo," she added under her breath. "Now, let's get down to business. You were there, Lisle, I know you were. You know what happened."

"N-No Miss Reiko, I don't know anything... or at least I don't really remember. If only my memory wasn't so bad, but if something were to spark my mem—"

Reiko sighed and pulled out a thick book with the title _101 Poisonous Spiders_ written across the front. Lisle's eyes grew wide. "Is that…?"

"Yup, platinum edition," said Reiko. Lisle reached out for the book with a shaking hand. Reiko swatted it away.

"You can't even touch this until you tell me what happened. Now, spill," said Reiko.

Lisle at once regained composure and said as if he were a completely different person, "It was a very remarkable event, indeed. It was sometime in the morning that this happened. Oh yes it was—"

"Just tell me what happened, Lisle," said Reiko impatiently.

"As you wish. Now where was I? Oh yes, so most of the gang was there, including Mikan-chan. A man had brazenly come into their usually alley/meeting place, so as you may have guessed, they were very angry. They took his briefcase and started taunting him, but then everyone except Mikan fainted for some reason. I'm not sure why, but it fascinated me, so I took a picture of him. He then charged after Mikan calling after her, and he chased her out of the alley," said Lisle with an almost comically serious face on.

Reiko massaged her forehead in exasperation. "And while all of this happened, just what were you doing?"

"Watching comfortably from above of course, I prefer not to chase after people; it tires me out," said Lisle, "Now, as for my payment…"

"Just take the damn spider book and get out of my sight," said Reiko, sighing.

"As you wish, Miss Reiko," Lisle said. He lunged towards the book and hugged it to his chest, drooling over the bindings. Reiko watched in disgust as he walked away.

She dropped her face into her hands and took in a deep breath. _Where are you, Mikan…?_

Mikan stared up at the branches of the sakura tree, with the back of her head resting on her arms, as pink petals fell every time a dull breeze swept by. The time was 11:11 am at the time and morning classes were probably wrapping up, but Mikan had been lying beneath the sakura tree ever since first period when she had asked to use the bathroom.

Sure, this, was the kind of school her grandfather had dreamed of her going to but no matter how hard she tried to be interested, she just couldn't get used the school. When she heard she wasn't allowed to visit anyone outside the academy, ever, the idea of obediently going to classes appealed to her even less. After all, if they expelled her she could visit Reiko.

Mikan was staring listlessly at the falling sakura petals when a heavy black booted stepped on her forehead. Mikan gazed up at the owner of the foot, and saw the face of the fire-boy, Natsume Hyuuga.

"Hey, this is my cutting-class-hang-out-place, so I'm gonna ask you once to leave before I burn your hair off," he said in a quietly deadly voice.

"Well, long time no see, fire-boy. Go ahead and burn my hair off, but it'll just grow back. I'm not moving."

"I thought I recognized you from somewhere. You're that street rat Narumi brought in.

A school uniform sure looks strange on you."

Her school uniform didn't seem to fit her. Her hair still had bright magenta tips, and she still wore black nail polish and heavy mascara. He fingers donned many spiked rings as well and she wore a menacing spiked bracelet; all of which contrasted greatly with her pristine blazer and pleated skirt.

"Good thing you can still think properly."

"You'll pay for what you did last time, you little bitch."

Mikan sprang up and pushed Natsume against the tree trunk and kneed him in the groin.

"You can call me a street-rat or an idiot or ugly, but _no one_ calls me a bitch." Mikan walked away while Natsume fell to the ground in pain, his hand over his crotch. He certainly hadn't expected that. All of a sudden a ten foot tall ring of fire appeared around Mikan. She couldn't see anything around her except fire.

"You bastard!" Mikan yelled.

Mikan tried to make the fire go away like last time, but she didn't know how. It was too hot to think and the ring was slowly becoming smaller. She tried to will the fire away and imagine it gone but everything she did was futile. She wanted desperately to get away from this extreme and unbearable heat. It was too hot… too… hot…

It was an unbearably hot day in Tokyo. Children didn't play in the streets that day and people sought refuge in air conditioned stores and homes. Even the most diverse street in Tokyo was nearly deserted. Nevertheless, Reiko came to that same café in hope of finding that blond man, for right across this street was the alley in which Mikan was kidnapped—or at least chased out of—and Reiko hoped that man would need to come to this street again.

Reiko clutched the picture of the blond man in her hands, memorizing every detail in his face, so that if he were ever to bump into her, she would know right away. She had never been more worried in her life. Who knows where Mikan could be. She could be sold to the yakuza or to some whorehouse, or at the bottom of the river…

Reiko didn't want to think about that, but she needed to know what had happened to the girl she thought of as a little sister.

_This is useless,_ she thought, _if he was going to use this road again it certainly wouldn't be today._

Just then a frazzled blond haired man hurried into the dilapidated café and ordered a coffee. He then sat down and ran his fingers through his hair nervously, checking his watch every few seconds. Reiko looked down at the picture and back at him. She couldn't believe her luck, for there was Mikan's kidnapper sitting right in front of her. She was about to charge at him and demand where Mikan was but stopped herself in time.

_He's not normal, _Reiko thought, _I need to make him weaker somehow. If only there were some kind of way I could knock him out…_

"Excuse me," Reiko said to the waitress, "I don't feel so great, do you have a first aid kit in this joint?" The waitress nodded.

"Follow me, its somewhere near the kitchen," said the waitress.

The waitress brought Reiko to the back of the café and handed her a box full of bandages and medicine. Reiko rummaged around the box as the waitress walked away, looking for something that would knock out the man.

_Aspirin? No that would be too hard to slip to him…ointment? No…Crap there's nothing in here I could use…_

Reiko poked around the first aid kit frantically. Suddenly, she came across a promising blue bottle.

"Ex-lax?" read Reiko, "Perfect…"

She slipped into the kitchen where, thankfully, the cook was asleep and the coffee was ready to go. She poured out some of the drink and poured the Ex-lax in.

Reiko ducked below the counter and crawled out of the kitchen just as the waitress came up to the window that looked into the kitchen and picked up the coffee.

"Figures," said the waitress, gazing dismally at the snoozing chef.

Reiko went back to her seat and picked up a newspaper to hide behind as she watched the man take the bait. He soon paid for the drink and left. Reiko got up stealthily and followed the man out of the restaurant. Only a block away from the café, the man grabbed his abdomen in pain. _Perfect_, thought Reiko.

"Oh my, are you ok?" said Reiko in a falsely concerned voice.

"No… I really need to… use the bathroom…"

"Oooh you sound sick, let me take you to my apartment, and you can use the toilet there. It's real close by," said Reiko.

Her apartment was, in fact, close by; it was directly across from the dilapidated café. She led him up four flights of stairs to her apartment door. She rushed him to the bathroom, where he immediately went to the toilet and sat down, not even bothering to close the door.

The man moaned, and Reiko came hurrying in after finding the chains she used to chain up her motorcycle at night. She hid the chains behind her back.

"Are you okay? You sound distraught," said Reiko innocently.

The man groaned again, and clenched his eyes shut; sweat beads formed on his forehead. Reiko took this moment to wrap the chains around the toilet, through the safety handle bar behind it and across the man's chest. She clicked the lock shut.

She grabbed the man's face and looked straight into his fearful eyes. "Now tell me. Who are you, and what have you done with Mikan?"


	6. Fire and Water

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Fire is a curious thing; a small gust of wind can extinguish a candle in an instant, but with a huge forest fire, the huger the wind the worse it gets. Pretty soon a fire, the same thing that lights up a tiny, flickering candle, can get so big that not even the Roman gods of wind or a Kamikaze (wind god) could stop it.

That is precisely why the ten foot high circle of fire Natsume had created around the girl who had kicked him in the nuts was so unstoppable. The only thing that could stop it now was either Natsume, who was too consumed with fury at the present, or water, and lots of it.

There were only two water Alices at Alice Academy. One was poor, timid Aya who could only manipulate droplets of water at that time, and the other… well the other one had fortunately seen the whole thing.

And while Natsume was engrossed in his fury he was not so enraged as to not notice the immense shadow that had fallen over him. Slowly he turned around and gaped at the twenty foot wave was that was about to crash upon him and Mikan who had already fainted within the flames.

The tidal wave of water sent Natsume and Mikan tumbling across the grounds. As the wave died down, the owner of the wave sloshed through the knee deep water that was slowly rescinding back into the ground at his command. He then found what he was looking for; Mikan lay a few feet away coughing up water.

He went over to Mikan and offered her a hand. Mikan ignored it and sat up, clutching her head. The boy simply slid his hand back into his pocket. His chocolate brown eyes which matched his hair continued to watch Mikan as she groaned due to her splitting headache.

"Why did you do that?" she asked, receiving no reply. "What? Did you think I was so pitiful that you had to help me? Well, you didn't have to. It was my own damn fault for playing with fire…literally."

She still got no reply. He simply stared at her for a while and then walked away. "Well thanks anyway…" she said to his retreating back "…you weirdo…"

She glanced over to Natsume who was lying with his face flat on the ground. Sighing, she stepped over his limp headed toward Hotaru's dorm room so she could change out of her soaking clothes.

"Water fight?" said Hotaru who was stepping out the door on her way to class.

"Something like that," said Mikan as she started stripping off her wet clothes. She grabbed a towel to dry her hair and went over to the window where she could see the Tokyo skyline in the distance. _Maybe if I squint hard enough I can see our apartment…_

--

At the apartment, Narumi was in quite a predicament. Few can say they've been chained to a toilet, and even fewer could say that they would like to be. It had never crossed his mind before, but Narumi could now say with full confidence that being chained to a toilet was not his favorite pastime, especially when at the same time he had been emptying his stomach through his rear end.

To make matters worse, a strange but beautiful woman was interrogating him about his newest student.

"I don't know wh—"

"Oh cut the crap, you know who I'm talking about. You're _this_ man aren't you?" she said holding up the picture she had gotten that afternoon.

"I—" Narumi paused as his face scrunched up and his bowel deposited more brown bombs into the porcelain bowl. "I—can't—tell" Narumi choked out.

"Oh, you'll tell me, or I'm force-feeding you some more of my little friend." She held up the Ex-lax and shook it teasingly in front of his face.

"YOU!" said Narumi.

"Uh-huh, and I can do a lot worse than make you shit like crazy," she threatened.

"Who…are you?" he asked, sweat pouring down his face.

Reiko grabbed him by the chin and glared into his eyes. "Your worst nightmare."

--

Natsume had just woken up when he remembered why he was so angry, why his hands shook, and why the temperature was slowly rising. _Who _was _that girl?_

He didn't even know why he was getting so worked up about a stupid girl, but he had an intense urge to find out what her Alice was and defeat her in a match. He just knew she was the student the Academy had been secretly training for years. Rumor had it that they had been training the water Alice who had been brought up by the principal of the Academy. He was everyone's best guess as he was rarely seen by his fellow students outside of class and because he never spoke a word. But after seeing her sheer power in the room where they had first met he knew she was the one that the Academy had secretly been training, as the intensity of her Alice was unparallel even to his. And what was more, it didn't even seem to wear her out.

People also thought Natsume was the Academy's secret weapon, but Natsume knew it wasn't true. He knew the academy would want to hide their secret weapon, not use it for every mission they came across. Natsume shuddered at the thought of being called it, but he knew that was all he was considered by the Academy. He was dispensable. He was a commodity very precious to the school but nonetheless, dispensable. The school would care less if he died on a mission so long as there was another fire Alice to take his place.

He knew it shouldn't bother him by now, he ought to have gotten used to it by now. But the very thought that he was no longer a human made him want to retch.

--

She had to wait until Narumi was done pooping convulsively, but Reiko was finally able to know what had happened to Mikan.

"I want to see her, I want to make sure she's alright" said Reiko after she had heard the whole story from Narumi.

"I'm afraid—"

"I don't care what you're afraid of; just bring her to me this instant. I don't care what the school rules are of your stupid Alison Academy or whatever—"

"Alice Academy" Narumi interrupted.

Reiko sighed. "Look. I just want to say goodbye. I just want to make sure she's safe. Don't you even let other student's family members say goodbye to their families?"

"Mikan isn't your family," Narumi said gently.

"I'm all she's got," she said. "Her grandpa died years ago, and…she's my only family too."

--

Mikan watched the other students writing letters eagerly to their relatives during lunch that day. She really wished she could write to Reiko, but they only allowed letters to family members, and no matter how many times she tried to tell the mail robot that Reiko was her family, it wouldn't budge. She would have to talk to Narumi about a trip to visit Reiko soon. After all she didn't even get to say goodbye.

Mikan sighed and glanced over at Hotaru and noted the three stars she wore on her lapel. "What are those stars for?" Mikan asked.

"They tell your rankings," said Hotaru not glancing away from the newspaper in front of her.

"Rankings? So those still exist even in this school?" Mikan mused as she lay her head down on the table. It had been a long day and she was not looking forward to her afternoon classes. She had already been late that morning because she had to change clothes, so she supposed skipping was out of the question. It was her first day after all. But maybe for a little while she could close her eyes…

When Mikan woke up the entire cafeteria was empty. Mikan yawned. _What time is it? Oh it's only two o'clock…_

"CRAP" yelled Mikan, "I can't believe I slept for two hours!"

Mikan grabbed her books and sprinted out of the cafeteria. She ran for a little while, but stopped in realization. _I'm already two hours late; a few extra minutes couldn't hurt me. Might as well just skip…_

She walked lazily around the halls looking half-heartedly for the classroom when she saw him again. "Oi, it's you again. What was your name? I don't think I caught it."

The water Alice merely gazed at her.

"What? Do I have something in my teeth?" she turned away and rubbed her gums, trying to rid herself of any leftover spinach between her teeth.

The boy simply shook his head and continued walking. "Wait! Can you tell me where class B is?"

He continued walking. "Hey! Can't you even lend me a little help?" she said as she walked after him.

"Hey! I'm talking to you. You could at least respond!" They turned a corner and the boy suddenly stopped and pointed to a sign that said class B.

Mikan, quite mollified, yelled after him as he walked away, "Um…thanks! Wait! What is your name?"

Getting no reply once more Mikan sighed and turned herself towards the door. _Might as well face my teacher now, maybe I can make up a convincing excuse… _

She turned the handle…

"LATE" was the first thing she heard as she walked in the room. She looked up at the teacher towering over her.

"I-uh… forgot," said Mikan lamely, all thoughts of a good excuse leaving her mind at the sudden attack by the irate teacher.

"Did you hit your head on the way to class or were you just born stupid? Either way something must've happened to you, even an ape could remember what time their class starts." The teacher laughed joyfully as if he had made a very clever remark.

Quite ticked off at his idiocy, she decided to get even. She remembered that this idiotic teacher's name was Jinno. _Well, as long as I'm in this situation I might as well have some fun._

"Sorry JinJin, truth is, I had to get some rest before I came to class, wouldn't want to fall asleep with your teaching now would I?"

The class gasped. No one had ever given such cheek to Jinno, not even Natsume.

"J-JinJin?" Jinno was turning red in the face, and his "discipline stick" was crackling with electric fury.

"Yeah I made it up myself. You like?" she asked with a coy smile.

"You…little…DETENTION!"

"I'm afraid my name isn't Detention. It's Mikan. Sakura Mikan."

"YOU are the filth that is making this school go to the dogs. I keep telling that blasted Narumi not to let in filth like you but here he goes bringing in a mangy mutt like you."

"What's wrong JinJin? Don't like dogs? Or maybe you're just a cat person."

"THAT'S IT! Perhaps you weren't aware, but I am the one who will decide your ranking in this school, being head teacher of the middle school branch."

"Oh no, JinJin's not going to give me a gold star! What on earth will I do?"

"That's right; I'm not giving you _any_ stars. From now on, you're a no-star."

Some of the students in the class gasped and some snickered. Being a no-star in middle school was unheard of and probably the most shameful the position to be in.

"Aw, that's ok, JinJin, I don't need stars to make me feel loved," said Mikan in a sarcastically condescending voice.

"Take. Your. Seat."

She went to go take her seat, but this time, instead of being empty, the seat next to hers was occupied by a certain fire Alice.

"Well, it looks as if you've managed to make yourself equivalent to a kindergartener," Natsume said as she slid into her seat.

"What do you mean?" she asked, confused.

"Only Kindergarten students have a no-star ranking."

Mikan scoffed. "If you ask me, this whole thing sounds like Kindergarten all over again to me. I mean, who ever heard of teachers giving out stars to middle school students."

"You've been here for so long, and you still don't know how this school works."

"What do you mean? I just came three days ago. Or were you too wrapped up in yourself to notice I was a new student?"

"Don't try to hide it. I know you're the one the Academy is training secretly."

"Look. It's not that I'm not thrilled to listen to you talk about stuff that doesn't even make sense, but I'd rather not talk to someone who tried to kill me just this morning." Suddenly Mikan felt a shock go up her spine. Jinno had come behind Mikan and rapped her on the head.

"I have good news and bad news for you. The good news: class is over," Jinno said surprisingly cheerfully, but then his expression darkened. "The bad news: you have detention with me for another two hours."

Mikan simply groaned and slumped onto her desk.

--

Reiko looked up at the tall iron gates in front of her and then at the blond man next to her. It had been a strange day for both of them and Reiko wasn't sure if she was ready to enter those gates. She only hoped they would lead her to seeing her surrogate sister once more. _Don't worry Mikan, I'm coming._


	7. Reiko's Goodbye

"It's been three days. When are you going to let me see her?" Reiko was getting annoyed. She had been confined to a strange man's apartment for over 72 hours with nothing else other to do than wait for the blond man to come home every night so she could ask him why she was still waiting.

"In due time. Technically, you shouldn't even be here," Narumi said as he plopped down on the couch.

"And technically, kidnapping is against the law."

"Touché"

"This all seems unreal to me, this whole Alice thing."

"You'd have to see it to believe it. Unfortunately, my Alice is something you can really see."

"Oh, really? What is your Alice then?"

"I can… seduce people."

Reiko burst out laughing. "Oh! Well," she said as she tried halfheartedly to hold back her laughter, "I'd hate to burst your bubble, but that's not exactly a superhuman talent, now is it?"

"It's not what you think. I'll show you but you're not gonna like it."

"I'll see if I can resist," Reiko said sarcastically.

"It's a bit chilly tonight. Why don't you come over here so we can keep each other warm?"

At first Reiko just scoffed but then she looked at him and she nearly gasped at how mesmerizing he looked. His blond hair was blowing in the wind despite the fact that all the windows were closed. His skin radiated an ethereal glow. Reiko's body was moving closer and closer to him on its own. Narumi's body seemed to be radiating heat and it made Reiko's blood pump faster. At last, Reiko was leaning over Narumi inching closer and closer to his lips.

"Reiko…" Narumi purred, "Do you believe me now?"

Reiko blinked. She then realized that she was leaning over Narumi only inches from his face.

"Wh-what was that?" Reiko stammered as she bolted away from him. "What the _fuck_ did you do to me?"

"Calm down, I'm not going to rape you or anything—"

"But you could, couldn't you! And I wouldn't even mind, not 'til later." Reiko was shaking with rage; no one ever dared to manipulate Reiko like that. Her face was red and her finger was pointed at him as if it might curse him into oblivion. "That's just sick. I can't believe—"

"They let me teach here?"

Reiko calmed down a bit at that. Still a little flustered, she let her arm fall to her side. It hung limply there like all the energy had been sucked out of it. She cleared her throat, feeling a bit embarrassed at her outburst. She was sure she would have punched him if she wasn't so afraid he would turn his 'charm' on again.

"It's all right," Narumi said, "I'm not a pedophile, and I definitely wouldn't do _that _to my students. I have used my Alice on them before, but it only causes them to faint and that's only for when they've become a danger to themselves or others. I also wouldn't use it on you while you're living with me. I'm just sorry the only thing I can give you is my word."

"Sorry," said Reiko, "I was a little quick to judge, but it felt a little weird if you know what I mean."

"Yeah, but don't worry. Even if I was a malicious pedophile, I wouldn't be able to use my Alice on Mikan."

"Oh yeah, why's that?"

"That's right! I haven't told you her Alice yet. She has the Alice of nullification. That's how I knew she had an Alice actually, she was totally unaffected by my Alice."

"When can I see her anyway?"

"It may be safe to sneak a meeting tomorrow. Mikan and I have a free period at the same time, so it won't look suspicious if we both disappear."

"Good. But I'm still locking the door tonight."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jinno had to be a sadist. There was no other way to explain why he had left Mikan to clean the floor of the classroom with only a toothbrush. And this was not your ordinary classroom; classrooms at Alice Academy could double as banquet halls.

"ARGHH! Is this a boot camp or something? Who cleans with toothbrushes? And why is this classroom so goddamn huge? Our class only has like 20 people!" Mikan yelled to the empty classroom it had been two hours and the floor was only a quarter of the way cleaned. She had received detention every day after the incident with Jinno, and she swore they were becoming steadily worse. Water sloshed over the edge as she slammed the toothbrush into the bucket full of water when she caught sight of someone at the doorway. She flushed slightly as she saw it was the one who saved her this afternoon. She cleared her throat.

"Oh, it's you again. You heard that didn't you?" she asked swiping a pink lock of hair away from her face.

He nodded yes.

_At least I know he's not deaf,_ thought Mikan. "Uh, I don't really talk to myself often. Just when I'm frustrated. I didn't catch your name last time."

He said nothing but went over to the blackboard and started writing:

S-A-T-S-U-K-I

"Satsuki; is that your full name?"

He nodded once

"You don't talk do you?"

He shook his head no.

"I guess that means we're polar opposites. People tell me I never shut up."

The boy only smiled.

"Listen…thanks for saving me. I don't know what got into that guy; he just hates me on principle. He even said I had been training with the Academy for years! Imagine that. Don't know where he got that idea from."

The boy wrote on the chalkboard again: _You just came here didn't you?_

"Yup, Sakura Mikan's my name. You can call me Mikan, well if you ever want to talk."

As she said this, Narumi poked his head into the classroom and said, "Mikan, could you come with me?"

"Yes! Anything to get me out of here! Bye Saki!"

"Saki" raised his eyebrows

"I like to make nicknames for people," she explained as she followed Narumi out the door and into the hallway.

"So where are we going?" she asked Narumi.

"You'll see," he said.

He opened the door and her heart jumped. Surely, it couldn't be—

"Aneki?" Reiko turned around and grinned as she saw Mikan. Mikan rushed to hug her.

"Told you I didn't murder her," Narumi grumbled, he cleared his throat, "I'll leave you two alone" and he stepped out of the room.

"How did you find me? Was Chunky mad that I left? What happened to the others? Did you—"

Reiko let out a small laugh. "Hold on a second, let me breathe!"

"I'm just so glad to see you," said Mikan.

"I know, and I'm glad you're safe. You don't know how glad I am that you weren't kidnapped by some maniac and sold into slavery. I've never been more worried in my life." Reiko let a pained expression pass her face, but then she quickly wiped it clean. She continued, "You know I'm starting to think I'm getting too old for this racing gang thing."

"What? No way! You love racing!"

"Yes, but I don't have to be in a gang to ride my motorbike."

"Aw that's no fun," Mikan pouted, "And besides, I haven't even had my first race yet."

"You probably won't be able to once you're 21."

"And why's that?"

"Because that's when they let you out of the university. I'm going to miss you so much, but I'll write often; I've worked it out with Narumi." Reiko pulled Mikan into another hug.

"But I can always visit, and I'm sure this school has summer holidays, and over the winter I can—"

"No, Mikan. There's no visiting allowed in this school. And you're not allowed to leave."

"What you mean I can't come and see you ever? And you can't visit me?"

"No. This school has a no visitation policy."

"Then I'm coming with you! I don't want to stay here, not if I'm to be stuck here till I'm 21!"

"No, Mikan. You have to stay here."

"Why?"

"You're not safe outside these walls. Narumi explained it to me. You could be caught and sold for human trafficking. Alices are considered to be very valuable."

"But my Alice doesn't even do anything."

"Nevertheless you must stay inside the academy, with Narumi."

"Why? What did Narumi tell you that he didn't tell me? What do you mean?"

"You don't have to worry about it. As long as you stay within the academy, you'll be safe."

"But I want to go back and live with you! I want to have my first race!"

"Mikan, listen. That part of your life is over. You have to focus on your life in the academy from now on. I didn't want to tell you this, but Chunky thinks you betrayed the gang. She thinks you and Narumi were in cahoots since you were the only one unaffected. I tried to explain to her that it was impossible, that you didn't know any strange, flamboyant blonde men, but you know Chunky wasn't made leader because of her brains."

"Yeah, but I bet Rheina and Momoko were smart enough to know; wonder why they didn't say anything," Mikan said sarcastically. Rheina and Momoko were the scariest girls in the gang aside from Chunky, and they'd had it in for Mikan since day one.

"I'll miss you," Mikan said quietly.

"I will too." And with that, Reiko pulled her in for another embrace.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Are you sure you don't want to stay longer? I could probably hide you for a few more days," Narumi said as Reiko packed the last of her things.

"And risk getting pregnant? No thanks," Reiko joked. "Listen, I'd like to keep in contact with you, to check up on how Mikan's doing. Is that okay?"

"Sure, I'd be glad to," Narumi said sincerely.

"And if you're ever in need of anymore Ex-Lax, you know where to find me."

Narumi blanched as Reiko dragged her suitcase out into the hall.


	8. The Principal's Nephew

Mikan leaned out the classroom window as the sun was setting. In the distance the sun was setting and a gentle breeze ruffled the branches of the trees that lined the academy. The whole sky was ablaze with orange and red, almost like a fire; but rather than being scary and violent it was calming to Mikan.

Her gaze went beyond the walls of the academy and to the Tokyo skyline nestled just in front of the setting sun. She tried to see the apartment overlooking the alleyway that she and Reiko had lived in. She attempted to guess what Reiko was doing at that moment. Perhaps she was having dinner at the dingy café across the street. Or maybe she was working at the restaurant two blocks down waiting on tables.

But far away as she was, she couldn't even find the area where she had lived let alone Reiko. The buildings all meshed together in the distance, silhouetted by the orange glow behind it. Only miles away, Mikan felt as though she was eons apart from it all, as though the city was only a painting on a canvas and that once she tried to grab onto it she would realize that nothing was there.

_That part of your life is over._

Mikan felt a stab of pain in her chest as she remembered those words. The darkened buildings started to blur together with the orange sky. Mikan raised a hand to her face and was shocked to find that it was wet. Tears were streaming down her face.

_I'm crying, _she realized, shocked, _I haven't cried since… since Jii-chan died._

Mikan dropped her head into her arms and wept into the window sill. Her blazer jacket muffled the sound of her sobs.

She didn't notice, however, a pair of crimson eyes watching her from behind.

* * *

As it turned out, all of Mikan's predictions were false. Reiko was not at the restaurant waiting tables, nor was she eating dinner at the dilapidated café.

In fact, Reiko was not even near that area. She found herself instead in a house, her house to be exact—well her _old _house. The one she had grown up in. But this was no ordinary house; it was in fact the headquarters of one of the most revered and feared yakuza clans in Tokyo: the Inagawa-kai.

* * *

Mikan sighed and dried her face with her sleeve, wiping off the smudged mascara that had tracked down her cheeks. She sat on one of the desks behind and watched the rest of the sunset as she composed herself. Mikan sat there until it was twilight and the room was only lit by a dusky grey light.

She sat in the sparse light in such deep thought that she was nearly startled to death when Jinno's electric rod gave her a sharp rap on the shoulder. Mikan jumped a foot in the air and tumbled off of the desk. Jinno twirled his rod like a lasso over his head zapping all the lights in the room to life.

"So," he said. Mikan waited for him to continue. He didn't.

"What?" Mikan grouched with raised eyebrows, annoyed that she was now on the floor.

"I come in, not two hours after I left you to clean the classroom, and find not a sparkling classroom as I should have but a wet and soapy floor, a messy chalkboard, and a dirty mop and bucket," Jinno's voice was soft but deadly. "Now tell me, Sakura-san, why is that?"

"Jin Jin!" Mikan exclaimed with a wide grin, hopping up off the floor. "Is that all you were worried about? I thought you'd seen a ghost. You know, unnecessary worrying causes early aging."

A vein in "Jin Jin's" forehead was about to pop.

* * *

Mikan groaned as she lay on the bare oak floor of her attic bedroom. The room was sizable, but it was colder than the other rooms and in mid march, the nights were still a bit nippy. It seemed as though there was little insulation in the walls as they were all bare and wooden; rafters hung low above her, so much so that if she wanted, she could probably find a way to swing off them. The only furniture in her room was a spartan iron bed, a nightstand, and a decaying wooden armoire.

Mikan stared up at the rafter beams, relishing the feel of the cool, hard floor against her sore, aching muscles. Because she ditched her detention, she missed dinner and instead, Jinno had her scrubbing the grand ballroom until midnight.

_At least he didn't make me use a toothbrush; although a rag wasn't too nice to my knees and back either. _

What's more was that Jinno had given her a list of all the daily chores a no star had. It turned out that being a no star in middle school not only meant a crappy room, but also triple the chores of a one or two star student. It was now her official duty to wipe down the desks before class every morning, pick up trash around the courtyard during afternoon break, and help the robots wash the dishes at dinner.

_Seems like this life isn't too different from my last one. _

Mikan thought about getting up to go sleep on her bed, but her muscles felt too heavy to move them, and her head felt too foggy to muster up the will to budge from her current position on the floor.

Light streamed in at dawn and Mikan instinctively woke. Even as tired as she was, she was always an early riser. She shivered. Had she stayed on the floor the whole night?

Mikan shrugged on a fresh uniform, ignoring the stiffness in her muscles. She considered putting on her usual make up, but her skin felt clammy, and she couldn't gather the energy to paint her face that morning.

Groggily she left for the dinning hall where her no star meal plan entitled her to a lukewarm bowl of porridge and a small cup of diluted tea. It was mediocre, but at least it was filling, she thought.

After wiping down the desks, the classroom predictably empty for so early in the morning, she sat with a sigh of relief at her desk. Finally being able to rest a bit, Mikan realized just how tired she was. Her eyes drooped and her head fell into her arms on the desk.

A quarter of an hour later, the flame caster entered and stopped, surprised to see her sitting in the seat next to his. He was about to wake her and tell her to get away from his seat when she suddenly shivered in her sleep. Instinctively he held a flame near her. He saw her relax in its warmth. _What am I doing? _He extinguished the flame. After all, this was the Academy's precious secret weapon, and anyone precious to the Academy was an enemy of his. She shivered again. Natsume didn't know why he felt compelled to keep her warm when his instinct told him to burn the Academy's weapon to a crisp. He held the flame near her again.

BAKA BAKA BAKA

Three rice filled hackeysacks hit him in the back of the head, and the flame next to Mikan went out. He turned around and faced the culprit.

"What are you doing?" he said.

"I could ask you the same thing." Hotaru narrowed her eyes at him. "I know you tried attacked her at least once before. Why?"

"So the Ice Queen finally cares about someone. Why?" Natsume retorted.

"I don't have to answer that."

"Then I don't have to answer your question either."

"I can't let you hurt her."

"And I couldn't let you hurt Ruka, but you did."

"You—"

"Hotaru?" Mikan mumbled sleepily. "Wha…What t-t-time is it?" She let out a loud yawn and stretched her arms. "'Sup fire-boy?"

"Tch, fire-boy? Is that the best you can come up with?" Natsume scoffed and leaned against his desk.

Hotaru bypassed Natsume and stood in front of Mikan. "You didn't come back last night, baka. Where were you? Did you hit your head and get lost again?"

Mikan instantly brightened. "Oh Hotaru, you do care!" She leapt up and went to hug Hotaru only to be stopped by Hotaru's hand against her forehead.

"Don't come near me; you look sick, I might get infected."

"I'm just really tired. Jinno had me scrubbing the ballroom on my hands and knees until midnight!"

"Only a baka like you could get in trouble on the first day… and the second day... and the third day…"

Natsume watched the two girls talking as if it was a tennis match. _Girls are so weird._

He also noticed that Mikan was not wearing any make up. _So this is what street urchin looks like without the war paint on._ Her lips, without the purple lipstick, were soft and pink and the area where skin and lip met was blurred and less defined. Her eyelashes moved subtly as she blinked. With the dark make-up gone, Natsume could finally see her toffee colored eyes. For some reason, Natsume felt as though he could stare at the details for days in a trance.

Before he knew it the class had filled up with students; somehow he had been standing there, watching Mikan talk, for ten minutes.

"Hey Hotaru, what do people do for fun around here?" Mikan asked.

A lanky kid in glasses cut in, "Usually they go to Central Town. Hi, I'm Tobita Yu, but everyone calls me Inchou. It's nice to have you in our class Sakura-san." The boy bowed respectfully.

"Woah, a class prez. My old school didn't have one; no one stayed in class long enough to run for office." Mikan gave a hearty laugh. She sauntered over to him and casually slung an arm over his shoulder. "Say, Prez, mind if I call you Prez? You know everyone in this grade right?"

Yu gulped as if he were making a deal with the devil. "I know everyone in this class, and most people in this grade, but not everyone. Why?"

"Do you happen to know a guy named Satsuki?"

"Does he have a last name?" Yu asked.

"No, his name is just Satsuki. No surname."

"She means the Principal's mute nephew" said a short blond kid from the corner. He appeared to be chomping on bubblegum.

"How did you—"

"Kokomoriya, but you can call me Koko. I have a mind reading Alice. Although for some reason I can't read yours."

"I have a nullification Alice. But don't cha know it's rude to try and read other peoples' minds?" Mikan went over to him and grabbed his shirt menacingly. Koko, however, merely smiled serenely back at her.

"Wait," said Yu, "His name is Satsuki? None of us really know much about him. He never talks or attends class. We don't think he even has an Alice—"

"No Alice?" interjected Mikan. She turned towards Yu and let go of Koko, "But—"

"Good Morning Class! Please take your seat!"

Mikan had just been about to tell the class about the water Alice Satsuki had when Narumi walked in, bright and cheery as always.

Mikan took her seat and did was she usually did during class: stare out the window. Her favorite thing to look at, she decided after a week at the Academy, was the Sakura tree on the hill near the forest. It was easily the biggest one there and it was a nice place to rest let your troubles go. _Until fire-boy ruined it, _Mikan thought. She turned and gave a swift glare in Natsume's direction. He looked confused at first but then glared back at her.

"How does it feel to be used by the Academy? Do you feel noble? Brave? Tell me, did it make you feel happy when you killed?" Natsume seethed at her.

"I don't know what kind of delusions you have about me, but I'm not this secret weapon you keep talking about."

"If you're not the secret weapon then how did you defeat me twice? How did you magically wipe me out, and how did you create a 20 foot tall tidal wave?"

"I didn't—"

"Mikan-chan! Please pay attention, I'm making an announcement!" Narumi said in his sugary sweet voice. "Now, as you know, the summer festival is coming in a few months so next week…"

Mikan tuned Narumi out again. What was Natsume talking about? She hadn't made the tidal wave appear, she had passed out. Could it be that no one knew about Satsuki's Alice? Her head swam and she felt a dull throbbing in her frontal lobe. Suddenly she felt immensely tired again—and cold. Even though it was warming up that day, Mikan felt a deep chill in her bones. Mikan shivered again and let her head drop into her arms.

"Baka, wake up. It's time for lunch. How can you sleep through every class?" Hotaru was standing in front of her, blocking the light from the window.

Mikan stretched and rubbed her eyes. Her fingers felt like ice.

"Lunch. Yum. What will it be? Rice and a strip of seaweed? I can't wait," Mikan groaned dejectedly.

"Baka, it's your fault—"

"That I mouthed off to JinJin? I know, alright. Whatever, I won't complain anymore." She grabbed her bag and stood up. Hotaru's hand went to her forehead.

"No wonder you're so irritable. You're burning up." Hotaru's face remained impassive, but a hint of concern could be seen in her eyes. Mikan shook away her hand.

"It was cold in my room yesterday. Lets just go to lunch." Mikan walked to the door and looked over her shoulder. "Race you!" and with that she ran off.

"Baka." Hotaru said, the corner of her mouth lifting slightly.

* * *

"Father, I've returned." Reiko was wearing a black silk kimono. The kind female yakuza wear. Her long black hair covered part of her face.

At the other end of the traditional Japanese room complete with rice paper and tatami mats sat an older man with gray hair and a moustache to match. He too was wearing black robes, but these robes had a red lotus inside a red circle on the back. The room was dim and the only light came from the window behind him, leaving his face in shadows. He sat on his hind legs behind a mahogany writing table, the only item of furniture in the room.

"So you have. Have you come to disappoint me again?"

"No, Father."

"Good." His cracked lips twisted into a smile.

* * *

By the time the afternoon classes were over, Mikan still wasn't feeling any better. Luckily, she managed not to fall asleep in Jinno's class, which meant no detention that day. Feeling a little better at that thought she decided to go outside to clear her head.

It was warmer that day, but she still needed to wrap her arms around herself for warmth. Nevertheless, she was glad for the occasional cool breeze because it helped clear some of the fuzziness from her brain.

Her thoughts wandered to what Yu had said earlier, about Satsuki. It didn't make any sense. Why wasn't he in any classes? He couldn't talk, but that didn't mean he couldn't listen to a lecture and take notes. And why was he hiding his Alice?

She snapped out of her thoughts when she realized she was no longer in a part of the grounds she was familiar with—not that she was familiar with much in this school. It looked like she was in some sort of clearing in the woods. _Great_, she thought, _I'm lost in the freaking woods now_.

There was a stream to her left and in front of her was a large aluminum shed that was at least 50 feet wide. She walked toward it and peered into a high window on her tiptoes. Inside the ground was covered with mats. On the other end of the building she could see two figures talking. She squinted. One of them looked like Satsuki. She hurried around to the other side of the shed and stood under the window, which was thankfully ajar.

She heard the silky voice of who was presumably the other person beside Satsuki in the shed.

"I've seen you hanging around the new girl. Did you think you could make yourself a little friend?" The voice was cold and suffocating with a hint of mocking.

"I'm sure the conversations you two would have would be fascinating." Satsuki of course remained silent. The other voice grew gruff.

"Listen well. You do not have the right to make friends. You do not have the right to any sort of relationship." He paused, as if Satsuki had responded in some way. "That's right," Mikan could almost feel the sinister grin on his face, "I know what she is to you. Don't worry; I don't care for her so long as she remains useless. But let me make one thing clear. You are the property of this Academy."

Silence, then the other man spoke, "Enough of this. Run 50 laps and then we'll spar." Mikan heard him walking toward the wall she was leaning against and her heartbeat quickened. She pressed herself against the wall. The window slammed shut and Mikan thought she felt her heart jump to her throat. Calming herself, she ran away along the stream. She sat down on a rock that was out of view from the shed. She began thinking—she had been doing a lot of that these days, and it was just not like her. She was used to getting fired up and throwing punches, but this world was confusing and complicated and required a whole lot more thinking than her time in the gang had.

The conversation raced through her mind a million times until it was twilight. The air had since gotten chilly and she shivered. But this time the cold didn't clear her mind. She stood up perhaps too quickly and vision blurred. Suddenly, she didn't know which way was up and she was falling into blue. Arms circled around her waist and all went black, but not before she heard a faint voice yell out in the distance.

"Mi…kan!"


End file.
